Magic is Real
by Kefalion
Summary: When Tony was 14 his father went to England to a meeting with the Dursleys and ended up adopting 4 years old Harry. After his father's death Tony takes over the raising Harry part, including finding out his brother is a wizard


**Magic is Real**

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This story is part of my request series **All About Harry**. Do you want to make a request? Look at my bio page for info.

When Tony was 14 his father went to England to a meeting with the Dursleys and ended up adopting 4 years old Harry. After his father's death Tony takes over the raising Harry part, including finding out his brother is a wizard

As you all know I do not own the Avengers, Iron Man, Harry Potter or any of the other things you recognize in this story.

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**Chapter 1  
**_Words: 3 022_

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"Tony! Tony! I got mail!" Harry rushed into the lab where his older brother Tony, always was cooped up in when he was home. Harry yelled loudly to make himself heard over the deafening rock music that filled the room.

"Hey there, champ!" Tony looked up from the gizmos he was working on and took in Harry's windswept appearance. "No running in the lab!" He admonished half heartedly.

When it came to Tony's efforts to raise his little brother, which he had been forced to do after their parents died almost a year back; it was a; _do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do _policy. Tony turned down the volume so that he could better hear what his little brother had to say

Harry came to a stop next to him, almost toppling over. "Sorry," Harry mumbled, in a tone that meant he was just saying it for the sake of saying it, just as Tony admonished him because he was supposed to. "Now look at this!"

Tony accepted the letter Harry handed to him. It was made of thick, yellowish paper that Tony raised an eyebrow at. "Parchment?" he muttered.

"Parchment?" parroted Harry.

"Yep, if I'm not mistaken, and I never am," Harry snorted at that, "this here isn't paper. It is parchment, which is made from animal hide, and it was commonly used until the turn of the last century."

"Oh," Harry breathed, sucking up the information; he sat down next to his brother and then went on to speak rapidly with excitement. "Do you see what it says? They know exactly where I live!"

Tony looked at the address, written in emerald ink, and felt his heart clench painfully.

_MR. H. Stark,  
__The west Bedroom on the Third Floor,  
__2, Cliffside Drive,  
__Malibu,  
__CALIFORNIA_

These people knew exactly where his baby brother was. Tony didn't like it. _Uh-uh_. He couldn't help but fear that this was some sort of thinly veiled threat. It wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened, there was one difference however. Never before had Harry been made the target.

Tony turned over the envelope, looking to see if he could find any clues as to who was responsible. The letter was closed up with a purple wax seal, which showed a capital H surrounded by four animals; a lion, a badger, a snake and an eagle. He had never seen it before, it looked extravagant and experience told him that it couldn't be good.

Tony was panicking slightly, but he kept a calm front as to not worry Harry, and he needed to do it good, for the kid was smart, and could always tell how Tony was really feeling.

Harry was perhaps not at genius level like Tony and their father had been, but he was well above average and he had a lot of experience when it came to reading his older brother's moods and expressions.

Tony really hoped this wasn't someone threatening harm to his kid brother in an effort to get to him. It would be just like it. Their parents dead for less then a year and already he would be screwing up, unable to keep the only family he had left safe. Harry meant the world to him and in hindsight it was funny to think of how things had been in the beginning.

Tony remembered clearly how angry he had been when his father returned from a business trip to England and announced that he had adopted a child. Tony had only been fourteen and in true teenage spirit he had sulked, thrown a tantrum and been a royal pain in the ass.

Because come on! What had his father been thinking? The man didn't care much for the son he had, why the hell would he want another one? It was cruel to all of them; Tony would feel pushed aside, never good enough, Harry would feel neglected wondering why he had been adopted if he wasn't wanted and Howard would have to live with even more guilt, knowing that he was being a poor parent.

Tony had taken out his bad mode on Harry in the beginning, but he hadn't been able to keep it up. It had been impossible not to like the four-year old kid.

Harry had been very timid, the look exaggerated by his large green eyes and bony frame. The boy had almost been afraid of his own shadow yet always eager to please. How could you dislike such an innocent creature?

Then Harry won over Tony for good as he started to feel comfortable in his new environment and learned that although his new brother could be grumpy at times he would never hurt Harry, and as a result Harry's sweet and fun-loving nature shined through.

As it turned out Harry's charm reached his new father and mother as well as his brother.

Howard had been prepared to change when he adopted Harry and for the boy's sake he did his best to try and be a better father to both his sons.

They had amazingly enough become a real family, something no one had expected. Tony got the attention he had always longed for, he received the acknowledge that he had been missing and this strengthened the connection he had with Harry as he on some level knew that it was the boy's presence which had initiated the change.

Maria Stark also became a more loving mother; she was influenced by the change in her husband, regaining faith and a will to live for more than work.

Sadly before it had more than started it was all over. Mr. and Mrs. Stark died in a car crash leaving their ten and twenty year old sons behind.

"Tony, aren't you going to open it?" Harry asked, startling Tony out of his reminiscence.

"Oh? Yeah, right. Opening the letter now."

"Read it out loud?"

"Sure." Tony cleared his throat and began to read, ready to censor anything inappropriate and make up something completely new if the letter turned out to contain threats.

"Dear Mr. Stark. We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…" Tony trailed off. That couldn't be right. He read the words again and they hadn't changed. He continued.

"Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress."

The two brothers made large eyes at each other, green meeting brown.

"Is this shit for real?" Tony muttered, looking back down at the letter, he didn't think this was someone trying to threaten them anymore, rather it was some nut job, which mind you could be equally dangerous.

"Tony, what is this?" Harry didn't sound as exited anymore.

"I don't know, champ."

Harry got up from his chair and to hang over Tony's shoulder. "Hogwarts? What kind of name is that?"

"Beats me."

"Witchcraft and Wizardry. Magic isn't real, is it?"

"No, of course not. Science is real, and sometimes it's so amazing that you might think it was magic, but it follows the laws of physics, it can be explained. There are two more sheets in here, let's have a look at them. Maybe it'll start making sense."

One of the parchments was a list of supplies, all of them weird. "Standard book of spells grade one, cauldron, first years aren't allowed broomsticks, what the hell..?"

Tony put down the first two pages and turned his attention to the last one. "Ah, now this I can understand."

"What does it say?"

"It's from that McGonagall woman, the Deputy Headmistress. It says that since you were adopted you don't know about all these things, and we should more or less ignore it for now. She'll be coming here to explain what's going on the seventeenth of July at two pm."

"That's in five minutes." Harry sat down again.

"Hmm, what did you say?"

"It's the seventeenth today, and it's five to two."

"What?" Tony jumped up from his chair. "Some strange woman who sent you a letter about a school for witchcraft is coming here right now?!"

"I guess so, yeah." Harry shrugged.

"Shit! I have to… I have to…" Tony got to a phone and dialled. "Yeah, hi, it's me. Could you look up Minerva McGonagall for me? British, possibly. Uh-huh… Yeah… So? Hmm."

Harry followed Tony with his gaze as the twenty-one-year-old walked back and forth in the lab, one hand holding the phone, the other running through his hair, making it look as messy as Harry's.

The cable from the phone was getting drawn out and Harry was waiting for the inevitable moment when Tony would stumble on it, he was already starting to get tangled into it.

The door bell rung up stairs, as they were in the lab which was on a level below the entrance floor, and in the same moment Tony was tripped by the phone wire, falling flat on his face.

The older Stark lifted his hand, in a comical gesture and said "I'm okay," which was Harry's line to start laughing.

Tony rolled over on his back and mock glared at Harry. "Really nice, Harry. Come on and give me a hand." Harry jumped down from the chair he was sitting on and helped Tony untangle from the cable, who then picked up the phone. "I'll call you back." The door bell rang again. "I guess we have a guest to greet."

Tony went up the stairs, Harry trailing after.

"Wait there," Tony hissed as they came up in the hallway and he walked over to the door, leaving Harry at the top of the landing, at least a bit protected.

Tony slammed open the door with more force then what was necessary. "Yeah?" he said as only greeting, being deliberately impolite.

On the other side of the door waited a woman who looked like the epitome of correctness. She wore a dark gray dress suit, which didn't hold a single crinkle, her dark hair was pulled back in a strict bun at the back of her head and green eyes peered intensely at Tony through square rimmed glasses. The only thing that put some colour to her was the tartan-plated scarf which was tied elegantly around her neck.

"Good day. My name is Minerva McGonagall and I'm here regarding the letter from Hogwarts to Mr. Harry Stark," she said in a mild Scottish accent. "I do hope the letter got here in time; I'm not familiar with how long sending a letter the… ordinary way would take across seas. I would like to speak to Mr. Stark's guardian and the boy himself."

"I'm his guardian," Tony said, glaring at her. He knew he was young, but he didn't like being dismissed and he wasn't used to it, seeing as he was the owner of a multibillion company and something of a genius. No, scratch that; owner of a multibillion company and a _recognized_ genius.

"Oh." The woman faltered just a little bit, but it didn't last for more than a second. "May I come in, Mr. Stark?"

"I suppose." Tony moved out of the way rather reluctantly, allowing the woman into his home. She didn't look weird and he didn't think that she was a stalker or out to kill his brother, though he guessed it might actually be the people who looked normal who were the real villains.

McGonagall stepped inside and once in the hallway she could see Harry who was standing there. "Hello, Mr. Stark," she said. "It's been many years since I saw you the last time."

"We've met?" Harry asked, making large eyes.

"Yes," the woman answered. "I saw you the night your parents, your birth parents, died. It was so tragic. They were both students of mine. Brilliant people, Lily and James."

"You knew my parents?" His curiosity was peaked. He didn't know much about his birth parents. The Dursleys hadn't been willing to tell Howard much, not knowing much in the first place and they hadn't been able to find out much on their own.

It was as if his father James had never existed and all traces of Lily disappeared the year she had turned eleven. The same age he was now.

"I did. I realize that you know nothing about their past, or the world that they belonged to, the world that you and I belong to. That's why I'm here today." She turned back to Tony. "Mr. Stark, if we could please sit down I will tell you all about it."

"Okay." Tony led the woman into the living room and he sat down on a couch without any invitation, or offers of refreshments.

McGonagall's lips thinned, they were but a narrow line. She sat down opposite of Tony and Harry went over to his brother.

"Mr. Stark," the woman began, turned to Harry, "have you ever experienced that something strange have happened to you, when you've been angry or scared or perhaps exited?"

Harry's eyes were large. "Yes," he whispered.

Tony felt much the same. There had always been something about Harry, something out of the ordinary. Once, when Harry was seven, Tony had promised that he would come home from MIT so that they could spend some time together. Some stuff had come up and Tony had not followed up on his promise, leaving Harry devastated.

The next time Tony did come home Harry had avoided him until it was Sunday night and Tony would have to leave again, then the older Stark had, had enough and he went to his little brother who exploded and it wasn't just yelling that happened. Everything in the room had shaken.

Then there was another time when Harry's teachers had called home informing the baffled Mr. and Mrs. Stark that their son had somehow managed to turn the entire staff's hair a brilliant blue.

Tony also remembered that the day they found out about their parents deaths the weather had changed suddenly, going from sunny to stormy in an instant.

McGonagall nodded sagely. "That is because you are magic. Mr. Stark you are a wizard."

"Come again?" Tony said, not taking the woman's word for it. For all that she looked like one of his old teachers, she could still be crazy.

"Excuse me Mr. Stark, what is your relation to Harry?"

"I'm his older brother. Our parents died last year. Now I'm asking you to tell us what the hell is going on."

"Of course." From her sleeve she took out a long, thin wooden stick. She swished it through the air and suddenly the coffee table had turned into a small pony.

"The fuck!" Tony jumped up, dragging Harry along. "How did you do that?"

"It's a transfiguration; it's the subject I teach at Hogwarts."

"I'll learn how to do that?" Harry asked with awe.

"In time, if you work hard. Transfiguration is not easy and it can be dangerous. If you continue my class after your fifth year I'll teach you how to do transfigurations such as this." She waved her wand again, the horse once more becoming a table. "I think it's possible that you'll do well in my class. Your father, James Potter, was one of my best students."

"Rewind and stop!" Tony demanded, he was still standing up and his hand was locked tightly around his brother's wrist. "What is going on here? Magic, transfigurations, Harry's real parents? You need to tell us what this is."

"Mr. Stark, sit down." She waited until Tony was back on the couch, not that he was relaxed, but it would have to do. At least the boy looked excited. "Yes. Magic exists, as does a whole community, hidden out of sight from normal people, who we call muggles. We have our own governments, laws, schools, sports and so on."

"Why would you keep hidden?" Harry asked.

"The Statute of Secrecy was introduced after the increase of witch burnings during the 17th century. It was decided that we should stay hidden for our own protection and to this day we have managed to do so. We have ways of keeping our secret. As a close family member to a wizard your brother is allowed to know about us, but neither of you can spread the knowledge of our existence."

"Right, well, I don't know. Harry what do you say?"

"I don't know," the emerald eyed boy responded. "Can I have some time to think?"

"Mr. Stark, magic is a part of you. This isn't something you can ignore. It can be dangerous if you don't learn how to control your magic. Whether you learn about our world or not, you will fall under our rules, if you break them actions will be taken. Going to a school is the best way for you to learn what it means to be a wizard. There is also the matter of how your parents died."

"How did the Potters die?" Tony asked. "And what does that have to do with Harry?"

"Ten years ago, there was a war in wizarding Britain. A dark lord rose. He called himself," she hesitated, a pained look flickering across her face, "Lord Voldemort, a name which all fear to say, instead calling him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You-Know-Who killed many, your parents opposed him and he wanted them dead. He went to your home on Halloween ´81 and he killed them, using a curse which none have survived. He tried to kill you as well Harry, and somehow you lived."

"Hold on a moment, let's see if I got this right. Some guy, a _dark lord,_ tried to kill Harry when he was a baby?"

"Yes. He was evil, he wanted to rule. He wanted to kill all muggles and muggleborns. But the thing is that when he couldn't kill you, Mr. Stark, he himself disappeared. The name Harry Potter is known through out the wizarding world. You are a hero, known to our world as the Boy-Who-Lived."

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**End Chapter 1**

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**AN 11th Mars 2013 **(9th October 2013)**:**

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This didn't end the way I imagined it, but I sort of ran out of inspiration so it'll have to do for now.

I just want to say that I do a bit of research. I looked up streets in Malibu by the seaside, and it was only after I had chosen an appropriate street that I really saw the name. Cliffside _Drive_, as in Privet _Drive. _I thought about making it number 4 but, nah. (I wrote this before Iron Man 3 came out and I'm not changing the address to the "correct" one)

And as far as the technology goes, it's 1991. The Starks might be advanced, but not _that_ advanced. In his home Tony therefore has a normal, oldish phone, though I'm sure he has a lot of more advanced versions lying about. This is also for the comic relief of course (at least that's what I'm telling myself)

I figured McGonagall would be able to interact well with muggles, she is a half-blood and as Deputy of Hogwarts she is one of the people who annually tell muggleborn students that they have magic.

Hope you all enjoyed it. There will be at least one more chapter but I don't know when.


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